The US will promote F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, President Donald Trump informed reporters forward of a White House assembly with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“We will be doing that. We will be selling F-35 jets,” Trump said. “They’ve been a great ally.”
The leaders are expected to talk about offers on defence and civilian nuclear energy during Tuesday’s White House go to, the first by the de facto Saudi chief since journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered at the fingers of Saudi brokers seven years in the past.
A US intelligence evaluation said Prince Mohammed authorized the operation that led to the killing. The crown prince denied any position in the homicide.
Prince Mohammed’s last go to was during Trump’s first time period in 2018, the same 12 months as Khashoggi’s homicide in Istanbul.
While former President Joe Biden did not host the crown prince and promised to make the nation a “pariah” over its human rights report, Biden did go to Saudi Arabia in 2022 to attain agreements on other points. Biden said he raised Khashoggi’s homicide in that assembly.
Trump and the crown prince already met in Riyadh in May. There, the US agreed to promote almost $142bn (£107bn) value of arms to Saudi Arabia in what the White House described as the “largest defence sales agreement in history”, as half of a $600bn investment deal. Saudia Arabia is the largest purchaser of US arms.
Some American defence officers have raised issues about a potential sale of F-35s, thought-about the most superior fighter jet in the world, to Saudi Arabia. They informed US media that they feared it would give Saudi Arabia access to delicate stealth technology, which the nation could then share with China under a security partnership between the two powers.
Officials in Israel are also nervous, telling US and native media that a deal has the potential to damage the nation’s navy standing. Israel is the closest US ally in the Middle East and the only nation in the area with F-35s.
One F-35A jet prices on average $82.5m, according to lead producer Lockheed Martin.
During Tuesday’s assembly, Trump is also expected to push for Saudi Arabia to signal the Abraham Accords he created and normalise relations with Israel. The Saudis have said that is conditional on a path to a Palestinian state – which the present Israeli authorities rejects.
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